I do prefer a 54x50 but a 54x45 with a 458 SOCOM and a max load is an eye opener and accounted for two deer for me this year.

Barnes 458 300gr SOCOM, Harvester 54x45 sabot and 120gr BH209 at 90 yards.

My .54 Lyman Trade Rifle flintlock for some reason shoots a 250 grain XTP real well out of a sabot. I was shooting it one day and found a couple packs of them hanging on my bullet board. And so I tried them with 80 grains of Goex 2f. The results were exceptional to say the least. Good luck, keep us posted, and I hope you miss the snow that his the twin cities.

I've never tried any 54x45 because of the slow twist barrels on both of my .54's. But I tried some 50x40 in the X-7 and couldn't get decent accuracy.

That is odd... I shot 40 cals from the 50's a lot and get great accuracy, but I am pushing them out pretty rapidly...

Even out of the White 504.... and they seemed a bit loose going down - but shot real well.

pluckit

Here I found this just now.... .452/300 grain XTP - shot in a Nosler .451/54 cal sabot...

Very nice. I might have stumbled upon something here. We'll see tomorrow if the weather permits.
And if they don't shoot well out of the Renegade I can always use them with one of my .50's.

I know Sabotloader. I've seen your reports and reports from others. That's why I was disappointed when the X-7 didn't do very well with them. Although to be fair, I tried only one load with them.

Semisane

Might be the BH... 95 grains of BH really does not do a lot with a 200 grain bullet. By the time the BH is ready to really burn well the bullet is out the barrel...

I am thinking you might have been getting the bullet out of the barrel @ about 1900 fps.

Sometime try your GOEX... 110/120 grains and see if that might help..

I have shoot them with the Harvester Blue 4050 sabot but the MMP Blue 4050 is a thicker sabot, and even though it is thicker it compresses down really well in even a tight bore really makes a good seal.

I like to shoot some 50 caliber 300gr bullets I got from Wideners in the purple sabot in my 54,they put a hole in a deer that you have to see to believe, all though I like the 50/40 a lot in my 50 caliber rifles.

Lee

Try the Speer 50-325gr HP too and the 50-300gr FTX. Both shoot great in my 54-120 with the red or purple 54x50 sabots. The reds only come with some of the Barnes bullets but they are tougher than the purples. Ive shot a bunch of the Speer 300gr for 50A&E too. They should be awesome for closer shots and a great cheap 50cal is the Rainier 50-335gr HP. Midway sells them for under $30/100 and they are made for Alexander Arms Beowulf ammo.

The Ultimate 50cal though is the Remington 385gr CLHP. Awesome bullet for $62/100 but they need a heavy charge to expand reliably. Recoil is a bit brisk too.



54x50s rock.